Fauvism and Influence

Henri Matisse was the leader of a period of art called Fauvism. Fauvism was a type of Expressionism that developed in France during the early twentieth century. Unlike German expressionists, whose paintings were gloomy and morbid because of the war, Fauvists' paintings generally expressed joy and vividness. The paintings of these artists were overflowing with colors of such high intensity that critics dubbed these artists Fauves, meaning "wild beasts". Fauvists expressed emotion through vivid color and focused on emphasizing light reflecting off their subjects, as opposed to the real image. Thus, Matisse was strongly influenced by Cezanne, who claimed that "painters could not produce light but must represent it by color". The Fauvists were also influenced by painters from the impressionism and post impressionism periods, such as Van Gogh. The painted in the same aggressive manners, smearing exploding colors directly from the paint tube, as one can see from Matisse's Madame Matisse.

In this painting, Matisse used high contrasting values to accentuate his subject. The violet in the upper right hand corner transitions into a lighter tint as it meets the dark shade of the hair. This is also evident in the upper left had corner with the green. On the right side of the woman's neck, Matisse darkens the green to contrast the light peach of her neck. The painting nearly exhibits a complementary color scheme, alternating the colors red and green, which are opposite colors on the color wheel. Matisse, like other artists, utilize color schemes their work from becoming chaotic. Repetition of colors and shapes helps to lead a viewer's eye around the painting, creating movement. Matisse repeated the bright green in the background with a stripe down the woman's face, adding harmony and balance to the painting. He also repeats the red on the background with her shirt and lips. Another aspect in observing art involves thermal dominance, which is the presence of either prevailing cool colors (blues, greens, violets) or warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows) in a painting. This preserves a sense of order in the painting as well, while still allowing freedom for a variety of colors. As with most Fauvist paintings, one can see Matisse's lively brushstrokes, adding an interestingly unique texture.

Fauvism was succeeded by a period of art called Cubism. Cubists, such as Picasso and Braque, painted objects from a simultaneous point of view, meaning the objects were depicted from all sides. For instance, a painting of a bottle would be painted from the top, sides, and bottom. Many of their paintings look fractured, as if the painting had been dropped, broken into paned of glass, and rearranged. An example of a Cubist painting is Man with a Guitar by George Braque. Unlike the Fauvists, Cubists were more concerned with the composition of their paintings. The subject is barely distinguishable, unlike Matisse's woman. The shapes of the painting vary, distinguishing the subject from the background. There are slight variations in value, leading the eye though the painting. Still, the style of this painting is incredibly different from Matisse's style. Braque maintained a neutral quality of his colors in both hue and intensity, which is visually calming in comparison to the restless colors of the Fauvists. However, not all Cubists painted with neutral colors. Many have been influenced by the bold colors of the Fauvists. One example of such a painting is Liubov Popova's Two Figures. The colors are familiarly striking. Thus, although Fauvism had only lasted a few years, it influenced the path of art significantly, as the audacious Fauvist painters breached convention in their quest to reveal the remarkable possibilities of color.